Tall Paul & the Queen - 'HER SECRETS ARE SAFE WITH ME!'

The loyal staff member has a special date with Her Majesty's diaries

- Judy Kean

It's a challenging job, but someone's got to do it. And the someone chosen to spend hours reading through Elizabeth II's personal diaries and documents is not a member of the royal family or an esteemed historian, but a retired palace footman known as "Tall Paul".

Paul Whybrew - whose nickname comes from the fact he's a towering 1.93 metres has been tasked by the King to sort out which of the late Queen's papers can be sent to a public archive and which must be kept for her family's eyes only.

Paul has been chosen because of the close bond he shared with the Queen over the 44 years he worked for her. In 1982, Paul was the first person to help Her Majesty after intruder Michael Fagan broke into her bedroom at Buckingham Palace. According to some reports, he wrestled Michael to the ground, then offered him a whisky to calm him down.

In 2012, he appeared with the Queen and James Bond actor Daniel Craig in the skit that kicked off the London Olympic Games. It was Paul who introduced James Bond to Her Majesty, and then accompanied the pair and a couple of the Queen's corgis along the corridor at Buckingham Palace.

During the worst of the Covid pandemic, he was part of "HMS Bubble" at Windsor Castle - the small group of staff who stayed with Her Majesty throughout the lockdowns. He would often join her and her dresser Angela Kelly on the sofa in the evening to watch TV.